I have 30 ISA Browns that are 8 weeks old. They have been off of the heat lamp for about 3 weeks now. 6 of them are roosting at night but the rest all huddle in a corner. It has been 87 degrees here this week and 81 at 9:40 when I shut them up for the night. They are huddled in their corner. I find it hard to believe they are cold. When will they stop this and start roosting? Is there anything I should do or just let them be? ctyfrmr
You can pick up a few of them each night and place them gently on the roost. They will get the idea after a few nights. Eventually, they'll all roost, not to worry, this happens all the time.
Unless they're Silkies, Cornish cross meat birds, or some other type that cannot fly well they'll eventually figure it out. They always do. I have one grow out pen of Leghorns and Black Sex Links that went from not roosting to all of them using one in under a week. I have another with some Easter Eggers, Silkies, and Marans that about half of the non-Silkies still aren't using a roost and they've been in there for months. I think they just prefer sleeping with the Silkies. In a couple of weeks I'll separate them and the non-Silkies may start roosting then. One thing that I've started doing that speeds up the process is to put a "training roost" in the brooder. At first they only play on it occasionally, but over time more and more of them will begin to get the idea so that when you move them out they'll already be thinking of it.
